Dorset Police 2024

The funding

The funding for policing is made up of a national grant from Government and the police precept, which is the element raised through local council tax. For Dorset, the split between the two is almost equal however, in the national funding formula, Dorset does not fare quite so well, with 48.4 per cent of its funding coming from Government funding. This is below the national average.

National funding formula

Dorset Police receives the 42nd (out of 43) lowest amount of Home Office grant funding of all forces in England and Wales. There is still little clarity on the timing of plans to review the national police funding formula, or the impact that this may have, and as such no benefit from this has been assumed in our medium to long term forecast.

Local funding

Based on the views of the Chief Constable and local residents, the Police and Crime Commissioner sets how much local residents contribute towards the cost of policing via the council tax. The PCC has a duty to consult on the precept (level of council tax) to be levied. The Government sets a cap on what this precept level can be, and if the PCC seeks to set a precept above this then the PCC must hold a public referendum.

The PCC makes their proposals for the precept level in conjunction with advice from the Chief Constable, and these proposals are subject to scrutiny by Police and Crime Panels. Panels have the power to veto the proposed council tax if they consider it too high or low.

Finances in detail

In Dorset, for the 2024/25 financial year, the Government grant is £83.2m (48.4 per cent of total budget), and the local council tax precept is £88.7m (51.6 per cent of total budget); giving a total core fund of £171.9m.

The PCC determines how the funding received is allocated between policing and wider prevention and intervention work that supports victims, reduces offending and protects the vulnerable. Over 98 per cent of this budget is delegated to the Chief Constable for the operational delivery of policing in Dorset. Around two per cent of the total budget is directly controlled by the PCC – one per cent on the staff budget for OPCC and one per cent as a contribution to the OPCC commissioning budget, which is also supported by ring-fenced central funding to support a range of initiatives.

Over the last 12 months the Force has continued to improve services to the public in line with the delivery of the Police and Crime Plan. Some significant developments include:

• Recruitment of an additional 27 police officers under the Government’s Uplift incentivisation scheme, while also maintaining the base target of 166 Uplift officers recruited in previous years.
• Making a positive difference to crime levels and outcomes across the Force, including specific initiatives in Bournemouth town centre.
• Adapting to the challenges arising from the arrival of the Bibby Stockholm barge.
• Policing numerous protests linked to the Bibby Stockholm and the conflict in Israel and Gaza.
• Introduction of technological developments, including the roll out of Single Online Home and a trial of Enhanced Video Contact.
• Development of the new Headquarters building at Winfrith, due to open in April 2024, replacing the existing old and highly inefficient building.

Furthermore, in the last 12 months we have:

• Arrested over 8,500 suspects.
• Achieved over 6,000 positive outcomes for our victims.
• Helped to keep over 33,000 vulnerable adults and children safe by referring them to our Multi Agency Safeguarding Hubs for partnership interventions.

Full details of the 2024/25 budget agreed by the Police and Crime Panel can be found by accessing the following link (item 38):

Agenda for Police and Crime Panel on Thursday, 1st February, 2024, 10.00 am - Dorset Council